


a dusty path

by orphan_account



Series: the scorched earth [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: A Dark Room (game), Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-08
Updated: 2014-07-08
Packaged: 2018-02-07 23:44:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1918632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She comes in with a group of bedraggled wanderers in the beginning of winter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a dusty path

**Author's Note:**

> so i decided to continue this, yay

i;

She comes in with a group of bedraggled wanderers in the beginning of winter. Snow is dusting the path and the forest, and they take up in the fifth hut Kanaya built. Her skin is dark but sallow, her face gaunt. She is the only human in a group of four, and when you first see her, it’s like seeing a ghost. You almost cannot believe your eyes.

Five years has aged her.

You mouth her name - Kanaya looks at you strangely, her hand touching lightly on your shoulder. You hardly notice her, cloth draped over your arms.

You’ve only eyes for the human girl. You say her name again, louder, and her head tilts, her green eyes hollow.

Slowly, slowly, she turns to you, and you know that you’re not dreaming. Her eyes widen, you start moving to her.

You shout her name, and her fragile face breaks into a grin. She stumbles to you, shouting:

“Rose, Rose!”

And then falls into your embrace, shaking with hysterical laughter. Five years have aged Jade Harley, but not destroyed her. She is eighteen now, going on nineteen, and dreadfully thin, but she lives.

She lives.

.

That night, Jade sleeps on your cot next to the fire. You sit in front of Kanaya on hers, and she weaves intricate braids your hair. It’s quiet, and after a while, Kanaya speaks.

“Who is she to you?” she asks, her voice low. She’s curious, you can feel it in the flitting of her fingers. You can all but feel her remembering how you told her about your family, how they all died    and left you behind. You sigh, catch her hand in your, rubbing soothing circles into it.

“She’s a friend,” you say. “Like a sister to me. I thought she was dead.”

Kanaya regards Jade’s sleeping form. “And she’s not.”

You shake your head, smiling. Jade had eaten three large bowls of hearty soup. It had broken your heart to see her shaking hands try grasping a spoon, but it had also given you hope. Her eyes held fire. “No, she’s not. I’m thankful for small blessings.”

Kanaya smiles, slow and bright, and goes back to braiding your hair.

Eventually, you both sleep, twined together like a single living thing.

.

Jade sleeps for two days and two nights after her arrival, a bony hand draped protectively over the pack she brought with her. You sit in the corner of your home nearest to the window, and you set up your loom. A wanderer had brought a flock of sheep to Town five weeks ago, sheared them three weeks ago. Now Kanaya spins the wool into thread and you make cloth and blankets for any who need them.

It gives you something to do with your hands, and you’re appreciative of that. You like to be useful, but you’re not very fond of speaking to people, so Kanaya does most of the law making and keeping of Town while you weave and weave and weave. Only heaven knows why the Townsfolk consider you to be any sort of leader to them.

You look out the window, see a grey sky full of swirling clouds. The trees are losing the vibrant reds and yellows they had only a month ago. Soon enough they’ll be losing their leaves altogether.

You watch, and Kanaya walks the street, speaking with various families. She squabbles for a moment with the butcher before moving on. You begin to hum, and outside a few snowflakes begin to fall. The fire pops and crackles at your side.

You are still humming tunelessly when Jade snaps awake.

.

Later, she sits across from you, her pack clutched bonelessly in her lap. Her fingers no longer shake when she holds a spoon, though her eyes still blaze. The fire casts a warm glow over her features.

She says, “Rose, I’m so glad I found you. I’d heard stories about a joint human-wanderer town, but I could have never guessed…” she trails off, gesturing widely. Her eyes crinkle with a smile, and you feel an answering one on your face. You lace fingers with Kanaya.

“It hasn’t been easy,” you say softly. “And it’ll get worse before it gets better, I’m sure. I am glad you’re alive, Jade.”

She laughs, full throated and bright. “Yeah, me too. Hey, where’s Dave? I haven’t seen that kid in, like, years.”

Your smile fades, and an ache starts back up in your chest. Not as harsh as before, but there nonetheless. You think this is a wound that will never heal. “Dave didn’t make it out of the cities,” you say, your voice even. You lower your gaze, and Kanaya rubs circles into the back of your hand. “Neither did Mom or Dad.”

She’s quiet for a while, her eyes downcast.

Then she says, her voice heavy, “Rose, I’m so sorry.”

You look up, a brittle smile on your face. You swallow once, twice, say, “Thanks, but, it’s fine. I’m fine. It’s been a couple years, so.” You cough, lick your lips.

The three of you lapse into silence while eating your soup. It almost becomes comfortable. Jade finishes first and sets her bowl on the ground next to her. She clears her throat.

“John is alive,” she says abruptly, and pulls a ragged sheet of paper from inside her pack. She spreads it on the floor, unfolding it as she goes.

It’s a map, you realize, marked with roads and towns and all sorts. There are notes scribbled in the margins, and a crude circle around a mark not far from Town.

“Have you been making this?” Kanaya says wonderingly, laying a finger on the edge of the delicate paper. Jade nods vigorously, pulling several pencils out from deeper in her pack.

“Yeah,” she replies. “I’ve been working in this area as a scout for the past few years. People pay good money for information on what’s around them, y’know? And I, I found John.”

You narrow your eyes. “You want us to help.”

It’s not a question.

Jade stares at you, hope like fire burning in her eyes. She is too thin, still, her fingers like twigs, but she is alive. “Will you?” she asks.

She is alive, and so is John. The answer is clear already.

“Yes, of course,” you say.

Jade smiles sharply, and leans to the map, beckoning you closer.


End file.
